Frame corner construction



Jan. 16, 1934- o. P. WALLACE ET AL FRAME CORNER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 28, 1951 WW MN WM Mi y Patented Jan. 16, 1934 PATENT OFFICE FRAME CORNER CONSTRUCTION Orien P. Wallace and Ralph F. Whybark, St. Louis, Mo.

Application February 28, 1931. Serial No. 519,039

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to frame construction and more particularly to corner pieces therefor.

In the construction of frames of wood, partic- 5 ularly such as are used for screen doors and window screens, the ends of the stiles are generally "secured to the ends of the top and bottom walls by mortise and tenon joint or the beveled ends are secured thereto by nails or corrugated fasteners. Sometimes the corners are reinforced by angles. lhe mortise and tenon construction is expensive as it requires special machinery to make and calls for experienced labor to assemble the parts together. Furthermore, the ends are weakened and are apt to decay due to the fact that the ends of the wood fibers are exposed. The use of nails or corrugated fasteners is not satisfactory as the wood is likely to split and the construction is not of sufficient strength.

The primary objects of the present invention are to provide a corner piece which is adapted to receive the beveled ends of the frame members and hold them securely in assembled relation in an efficient manner without the use of fastening devices, such as nails or corrugated fasteners,

- and which furthermore protects the ends of the frame members and strengthens the frame.

' Other objects of the invention are to provide a corner member open at the ends and inner faces so as to receive the beveled ends of the frame members and hold them in assembled relation, the inwardly disposed edges of the side walls of the corner piece being provided with inwardly projecting flanges adapted to form a close contact with the corresponding walls of the frame members and thereby effectively hold the parts in assembled relation and prevent dust and water from entering therebetween.

- Additional objects of the invention are to provide a metallic corner piece for frame structures which corner pieces is inexpensive to manufacture, permits easy assembly with the frame by inexperienced persons, and is of neat appearance and provides strong constrruction.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a window screen.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmental elevational view of one corner thereof.

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

'Cii

Figure 4 is a horizontal cross section taken on line 44 of Figure 2. 1 i i Figure 5 is a reduced top plan view of the blank from which the corner piece is formed.

Figure 6 is a perspective detail view showing a modified form of our invention.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing, 10 indicates a Window frame comprising stiles 11 and top and bottom rails 12 between which is attached wire cloth 14, the edges of which are secured in rabbets 15 by strips 16. All of the above may be of usual construction.

The ends of the frame members 11 and 12 are cut diagonally as is the usual practice. These ends are held together by corner pieces 17 which 7 0 are so constructed that the ends of said frame members can be frictionally held in position and without the use of any extraneous securing devices.

' Each corner piece is U-shaped in cross section and consists of spaced side walls 18 and 19 united together by a bottom or outer wall 20. The edge of the inner side wall 18 is formed with a laterally and inwardly disposed longitudinal flange 21 which engages walls a of rabbet 15 while the edge of the outer side wall '19 is provided with a similarly formed flange 22 which engages the shoulder b formed on the outer side of each frame member. These flanges are so formed that when the frame members are fitted into the corner pieces, said flanges form close contact with the respective walls so as to exclude 'dust and water from the interior of said corner piece. Said flanges also provide sufficient frictionto retain the parts in assembled relation without the use of securing devices. However,

in some cases it may be desirable to use a small nail 24 for each end of the frame member so as to prevent accidental disengagement before the inner panel or screen is placed in position.

Preferably, each corner piece is formed from a single piece of sheet metal, such as 25, shown in Figure 5. As shown, one of the bottom walls is provided with an extension or flap 26 which when the blank is formed is disposed inwardly of and overlaps the adjoining end of the other bottom wall and is secured thereto, preferably by spot-welding. The diagonal ends of the inner side walls are provided with diagonally disposed flaps or extensions 27 and 28 which when the blank is formed in proper shape form overlapping engagement with each other and are secured together by spot-welding thereby securing the formed blank in proper shape. Pref-v erably one of said flaps is displaced or offset inwardly, as at 29, in order to maintain the outer flap in the same plane with the outer wall and preserve smooth surface. The outer ends of the side walls 18 and 19 and of the bottom wall 20 are slightly turned inwardly during the formation of the corner piece and when the ends of the frame members are inserted thereinto the ends of said walls form a close contact with the faces of said frame members and also assist in frictionally holding the parts together. Preferably the ends of the frame members which enter the corner pieces are reduced in thickness as indicated at c in order to preserve uniform thickness of the frame and also to provide a close joint between the corner piece and said frame members and exclude water from entering therebetween.

In the modified form shown in Figure 6 one of the bottom walls, such as 20 is provided with an extension 30 which when the blank is formed in proper shape extends upwardly and provides a hook or hanger 31 by means of which the screen can be hung in position in the window frame.

In assembling the structure, one pair of corner pieces 17 is placed on the ends of one of the frame members, such as bottom rail 12, and the lower ends of stiles 11 are then inserted in the upwardly presented arms or sockets of the corner pieces. The other pair of corner pieces is placed on the respective ends of the top rail 12 and the latter is then placed in position by inserting the upper ends of the stiles into the downwardly presented arms or sockets of the corner pieces of the top rail. When the screen or central panel is placed in position, said frame members are held against withdrawal so that the entire frame structure will be held in assembled relation without the use of nails. However, a single nail can be driven into each corner piece, if so desired, to prevent the disassembly of the parts before the screen is placed in position.

In assembling the parts together, we prefer to dip each end of the stile and rail intoa pail of white lead or glue or other substance which when set will secure the parts together. A further advantage of this is that such substance fills all the crevices and forms a tight joint between the corner piece and the frame member so that the frame member is protected against moisture and a seal is formed which excludes water from entering between the frame members and the corner piece.

Before the assembling operation, the side walls are inclined inwardly toward each other and the flanges formed on the edges of said side walls are also inclined from perpendicular with regard to the side walls. Thus when the end of the frame member is driven in position, said parts are expanded and placed under tension and serve frictionally to retain the end member in engagement with the corner piece.

The ends of the frame members can, be cut diagonally as shown in the drawing, or they can be cut square, in which case the end of one member abuts the inwardly presented edge of the other member. So far as the external appearance is concerned, the type of joint used is immaterial since it is covered by the corner piece. The diagonal joint is preferred as it forms stronger construction.

It will be understood that the side walls of the corner piece are united together throughout their entire lengths by the walls 20. These edge Walls reinforce the side walls so that the latter, as well as the flanged edges thereof, firmly engage the surfaces of the frame members and said edge walls 20 impart rigidity to the vcorner piece and provide for strong frame construction.

We claim:

1. A corner piece of the class described comprising a single piece of sheet metal having one integral side wall .and having the edge walls and the other side wall formed in two sections, each edge wall section and corresponding side wall section being formed integral with one of the sections of the first side wall, one of the edge wall sections being provided with an extension adapted to be welded in overlapping relation to the opposite edge wall section when the blank is formed and the separate side wall sections being adapted to be welded together and secure said blank in folded position, the inner edges of each side wall having longitudinal extensions adapted to be bent to form opposed flanges.

2. A corner piece of the class described comprising a single piece blank of sheet metal having one integral right-angled side wall and having its outer edge walls and the other side wall formed in two sections, each edge wall section and the corresponding side wall section being formed integral with the corresponding portion of the first side wall, one end of the edge wall section being formed with an extension adapted when the blank is folded to form overlapping engagement with the corresponding end of the other edge wall section, and the inner end of one of said side wall sections being formed with an extension adapted to overlap the inner end of the other side wall section, the inner edges of the first-mentioned side wall and said side wall sections being formed with longitudinal extensions adapted to be folded to form, opposed longitudinal flanges for said corner piece.

ORIEN P. WALLACE. RALPH F. WHYBARK. 

